TECHDIGEST – The Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami has said that building an advanced mechanism for a secured cyberspace, is one of the government top priority in order to provide enabling environment for the socio-economic growth of the country.
Prof. Pantami who was represented by the Director General of National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa, stated this at the Cyber Secure Conference 2022 organised by Nigeria Cyber Security Experts Association of Nigeria, (CSEAN) with the theme: Cyber Security an Imperative for Tackling Security Challenges in Nigeria.

He noted that Computer is gradually integrating into peoples’ lives and society, and the world is changing in the humanity never imagine, everything becoming quantifiable in processing and storage.

He added that Government depends largely on systems for its operations and services and cyber security is synonymous with the security of the nation, unsecured cyberspace can be used to gather intelligence reports, hence working to curb and combat is imperative for a country like Nigeria facing security challenges.

“When a person has control of your cyberspace, automatically he controls your economy, thinking, and everything around you, thereby determining your next action”, the minister said.

READ ALSO: ITU Appoints Pantami To Lead World Summit On Information Society Forum 2022

This, he said is what prompted Federal Government to formulate National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS), which has Service Infrastructure and Cyber Security as, is to secure the nation’s cyberspace to move the economy, businesses and processes online.

“The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has established the Computer Emergency Readiness and Response Team (CERRT) to mitigate and combat cybercrime, thereby creating a conducive environment for operations. The essence of this center is to build the confidence of citizens and create awareness and proactively monitor the activities of cyberspace, and issue advisory notices for MDAs to restore services,” he asserted.

Prof. Pantami further commended the Cyber Security Experts Association of Nigeria (CSEAN) for its contribution toward awareness campaigns to make people conscious of cyber activities.
“More than 90% of cyber breaches are a result of human error, social engineering, or other errors. The more cyber-conscious we are; the fewer damages will occur.”

“The government is building a more proactive systems and awareness in terms of engaging organizations like yours, partnering with other communities, visiting schools, and MDAS to enlighten citizens about being cyber-conscious whenever they go online for their activities or operations.

“Cyber Security in general has become a phenomenal proportion in terms of the way we build the digital economy. We are working with stakeholders to build CERRT centers to monitor the operations and activities of the Cyberspace and collaborate with experts in case of any attack to help restore services. We are also collaborating with international organizations and train citizens due to ambitious target of achieving 95% digital literacy by the year 2030 which will increase the consumption of digital services,” the Minister emphasized.

Major General Samad Akesode, representing the National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno while delivering the welcome address commended CSEAN for organising such conference, stating that the conference is coming at the right time which will proffer solutions that will mitigate or curb the menace of cybercrime activities bedeviling the country.

Monguno solicited the Association not relent in their efforts towards cyber awareness, putting the necessary measures that will protect the cyber space and also create an environment for the development of the nation.

Delivering his address, the President of CSEAN, Mr Remi Afon said the conference seeks to open a discussion on how cyber security can be used as a supplementary tool to address the nation’s challenges and also encourage the sharing of intelligence on potential threats and collaboration to find lasting solutions.

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TECH DIGEST – A United Kingdom-based Cloud Security Consultant, Mr. Remi Afon has highlighted 10 job scam indicators that can lead to the loss of money and possible death.

Afon, who is also the President of Cyber Security Experts Association of Nigeria (CSEAN) highlighted these indicators, following the recent unfortunate incident, where a young job seeker, Iniubong Umoren was reportedly raped, murdered and buried in a shallow grave in Akwa Ibom State by a 20-year-old Uduak Frank.

Tagged #JusticeForHinny #JusticeforHinyHumore, Remi Afon tweeted via his @RemiAfon #Jobscam is on the rise in Nigeria, apart from losing your money, criminals are now getting murderous. If your gut says it’s a scam It probably is.

Here are the top 10 Jobscam indicators:

• You didn’t contact them, they contacted you.
• The pay is much higher than the average for the job.
• It’s an instant offer.
• Vague job requirements and descriptions.
• Emails from free email like Yahoo, Gmail, Hotmail and not a company email address.
• Emails with no contact information.
• Internet search results for the company returns nothing/vague info.
• You are asked to provide confidential info.
• You are asked to make payment before the offer.
• You are asked to come to a dodgy area for an interview.

Jobscam is on the rise in Nigeria, apart from losing your money, criminals are now getting murderous as recently seen in the unfortunate case. If your gut says it’s a scam, stay with it. Possibly, it is a scam.

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TECH DIGEST – The adoption of Information Technology (IT) in Nigeria has continued to surge, despite cyber threats that hit the IT space in 2020, according to the President of Cyber Security Experts Association of Nigeria (CSEAN), Mr. Remi Afon.

He made the submission recently, while presenting a national cyber threat landscape for 2021.

He said the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic forced an increased dependency on online systems and networks to support remote work.

According to him, “The year saw a continuous increase in the adoption of IT. For instance, significant growths in the numbers of mobile (GSM) and Internet subscribers were recorded. In the same vein, there was increased adoption of crypto-currencies by Nigerians.”

He, however, said the increased adoption of IT in 2020, presents an increased attack surface for cyber-criminals to continue to perpetuate their attacks. He therefore called for a nationwide coordinated effort to thwart cybercriminal activities.

“In reality, the situation in Nigeria was not different from the rest of the world. Globally, cyber-security intelligence reports have revealed that cybercriminals, last year, advanced their capabilities and deployed more sophisticated tools and techniques.

“One of the main factors that transformed the global digital landscape was the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to a rise in the use of digital technologies. Private and public establishments were forced to acquire and deploy technologies that would enable them to work remotely, to reduce the impact of the pandemic on their businesses. Many educational institutions adopted online form of teaching as a coping mechanism, to forestall disruption in the delivery of educational services to their students,” Afon said.

While presenting the national cyber threat outlook for 2021, Afon said top cyber threats for 2021 would include: Email-Based Attacks, where emails would used as vector by attackers for propagating other scamming, phishing, and malware attacks; Web Application and Services Attacks, where website defacement will be due to the activities of hacktivists in response to the actions and inactions of the government; Malware deployment by malicious actors against information systems belonging to individuals, organizations, and government.

Others include phishing, identity theft, fake news and hate speech, including Children Targeted Attacks, Hacktivism, Cryptojacking and Cybercriminal Recruitment.

In other to address future cyber-attacks, Afon recommended the publication and implementation of the recently reviewed national cybersecurity policy and strategy documents. He said efforts should be made by the government and corporate entities to improve the security of their IT assets, and that organizations leveraging on IT should update their internal security policies and procedures and adhere to best security practices.

He said President Buhari should as a matter of urgency, assent to the Data Protection Bill 2019 as passed by the National Assembly in May 2019. He said government should provide adequate information on COVID-19 and the linking of SIM cards to NIN, adding that lack of information can easily be exploited by criminal actors to deceive the uninformed. Access to relevant information should be easy and free for citizens.

Afon called for continuous education of citizens on the activities of cybercriminals, using the various media, is crucial, while efforts must be made by parents and guardians to ensure the online safety of their children and wards, respectively.

“It is important for parents and guardians to monitor the activities of and moderate the time spent by their children and wards, respectively, while online, and schools should ensure the technologies such software and hardware they deployed can effectively support learning without compromising the online security of their students,” Afon said.

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